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THE HUMAN 
• MACHINE 

IV 

RE-ADJUSTMENT 



PRIVATELY PRINTED 1922 



COPYRIGHT 1922 

HENRY DOUGLAS EATON. M, D. 

914 PACIFIC MUTUAL BLDG. 

LOS ANGELES CAL. 






SEP "2 1922 



y^VD 



I 



RE-ADJUSTMENT 



The re-adjustment of functional nervous 
disorders in the broadest sense includes the 
eradication of both predisposing and exciting 
causes as well as the re-establishment of the 
individual machine on an efficient smoothly 
running basis. The generally prevalent 
ignorance of the human machine combined 
with the opportunities for mis-use, provided 
by the exigencies of present day life, should 
be combated by a general education and train- 
ing begun at an early age and broad enough 
to provide us all with a good working knowl- 
edge of our physical and mental apparatus. 
Practical knowledge given through such gen- 
eral training will eliminate in future genera- 
tions the predisposing causes of nervousness 
so marked in our day. Adjustment to ex- 
tremely difficult environmental conditions will 
become relatively simple for us all when we 
start with a practical working knowledge of 
our machinery; just as keeping any machine 
in highly efficient running condition in spite 



of constant severe use is simple for the well 
trained mechanic though difficult or impossi- 
ble for the untrained man. Such general edu- 
cation must come and will undoubtedly lead 
to a gradual reduction in functional nervous 
disorders. It belongs, however, to the pre- 
vention of "nervousness," while our present 
interest is the re-adjustment of machines 
already disturbed. These disturbances as we 
have already learned, occur primarily in the 
central office, in consciousness, with second- 
ary disturbances elsewhere. In such cases 
knowledge both abstract and specific becomes 
an essential requisite to the attainment of 
permanent health. Though nervousness is as 
individual as personality, and therefore re- 
adjustment must, at last analysis, be a man 
to man proceeding, there are certain general 
considerations to which I wish to call your 
attention as a foundation for the later indi- 
vidual application. 

These general rules of efficiency fall quite 
as much into the class of common sense, 
as they do into that of medical advice. 
Therefore, there may be much of our present 
pamphlet which seems a useless repetition of 
common knowledge, much that is neither 
original nor indeed needs emphasis in the in- 



dividual case. I claim your indulgence, how- 
ever, for this short exposition of some simple 
truths which will, I hope, prove of aid in the 
art of becoming and remaining well. 

Work, I think we will all admit without 
question, is an absolutely essential ingredient 
of a normal life. The term work is, however, 
capable of almost infinite interpretation and 
much work, so called, fails both in purpose 
and quality to fulfill the ideals for which we 
must strive. 

All work to be satisfactory to the indi- 
vidual must have a purpose behind it; must 
be founded to some degree at least on the 
ideal of service. The pursuit of money for 
money's sake alone, self-aggrandizement per 
se, does not provide the objective neces- 
sary to all worth while accomplishment. 
Whatever our particular method of expres- 
sion, whether we build bridges, paint pic- 
tures, write books, or run trolley cars, there 
must be more behind our efforts than mere 
expression for expression's sake. Vision 
broad enough to recognize the relationship of 
our little bit to the whole, lifts our work to 
the level of praiseworthy and satisfactory 
endeavor. Work to fulfill our requirements 
is more than a mere occupation, it has a pur- 



pose behind it ; it is, in other words, a means 
to a broad enough end. 

Given a worth while objective and taking 
for granted that the end sought is possible 
of attainment, we may turn to the technique 
of doing. Here is a prolific source of difficulty. 
Man has expended millions of dollars in the 
pursuit of business efficiency, but has almost 
entirely neglected to apply the same principle 
to his own machine. There is an almost uni- 
versal lack of understanding of the human 
machine and a consequent lack of skill in the 
use of that machine to attain the ends 
desired. 

No engineer would attempt to run his 
machine without demanding a certain bal- 
ance between energy expended and results 
obtained: he would insist, for example, on a 
proportionate return in foot pounds of energy 
for quantity of fuel burned. Yet in running 
his personal machine such a man is only too 
apt to drive blindly for his objective, inter- 
ested only in its attainment and oblivious to 
the amount of energy he expends to accom- 
plish the desired results. There is much more 
in work than mere accomplishment. If the 
result is to be really satisfactory, it must be 
attained with a minimum expenditure of 



energy. We cannot afford to disregard the 
abiding satisfaction and interest, akin to the 
pride of craftsmanship, that comes from 
playing the game for the game's sake. 

Work, then, must not only be satisfactory 
in objective and possible of accomplishment, 
but must be undertaken from the standpoint 
of reaching the desired results with the ex- 
penditure of the least possible amount of 
energy. We must do our work efficiently. 

In the business world this principle of 
efficiency is universally recognized. No good 
business executive tolerates an inefficient em- 
ployee. No head of a manufacturing plant 
hopes to succeed in business with worn and 
leaky machinery. Every progressive business 
is continually installing new improved ma- 
chinery for the sake of business efficiency; 
yet in the business of living, in the operation 
of our own producing plants, this principle is 
being constantly neglected. 

Let us take an example in the crafts. 
Watch an experienced carpenter at his work 
and you are often surprised at the time he 
spends in measurement of the material and 
study of the plans. Yet when he has mapped 
out his campaign, the work goes to comple- 
tion smoothly and easily, without waste of 



time or material. The amateur builder, all 
enthusiasm, usually starts in immediately 
only to find, in a short time, that he is wasting 
time, strength and material; all of which 
might have been avoided. In one case under- 
standing and skill, added to careful planning, 
turned out a successful piece of work ; in the 
other, though the finished product would per- 
haps pass muster, it was ridiculously dispro- 
portionate to the effort expended. 

The neurasthenic is typically the inefficient 
engine, the poor craftsman, the inexpert 
executive. While good work may be turned 
out, it is done with such an undue waste of 
energy that the final outcome is certain. 
Work done with a realization of skill in ac- 
complishment inevitably has a beneficial 
effect on the individual. Work accomplished 
with the expenditure of an undue amount of 
effort, w T hile it may not be realized at the 
time, leads to a gradually increasing sense of 
inadequacy and dissatisfaction. The ideal of 
efficiency is important for us all : it is essen- 
tial to the sufferer from nervousness. 

As we have pointed out in our previous 
pamphlets the neurasthenic's inefficiency 
exists primarily in the central office. Possess- 
ing an essentially normal plant the executive 



control is poor, with a consequent progres- 
sively diminishing output of work and a 
steadily increasing sense of dissatisfaction. 
Such inefficiency can be eradicated by acquir- 
ing proper skill in the use of one's mental 
tools. 

First among our mental tools and of prime 
importance is the attention. Through the 
use of this tool we are constantly adding new 
knowledge, while by means of it we are en- 
abled to make use of the immense storehouse 
of records already acquired. As in any 
mechanical procedure, skill is of prime im- 
portance in the use of this instrument. 

The popular idea of attention control and 
concentration, that of brute force, is entirely 
erroneous and if used as a mode of procedure 
cannot but end in failure. The attention 
resembles much more truly the needle of a 
magnetic compass. Here we have a delicate 
instrument floated or balanced so that it is 
susceptible to the slightest variation in 
magnetic force. Capable of extreme rapidity 
of motion, it yet constantly and easily re- 
turns to its correct position in relation to its 
mechanically determined function. 

The attention is the compass needle, the 
field or dial of the compass is represented by 



the field of consciousness, the mental pano- 
rama previously described, while the mag- 
netic force determining the oscillation and 
controlling the final location of the needle of 
attention is the intelligence. Real efficiency 
in the use of our attention is attained when 
tolerant of its wavings or wanderings, we 
constantly and as easily as possible return it 
to the objective chosen by our intelligence. 

It is no more necessary, nor indeed possi- 
ble, for us to concentrate grimly on a subject 
without let up, than it is for the magnetic 
needle to remain constantly fixed on one point. 
The obvious inefficiency of such a method 
of concentration, were it possible of at- 
tainment, has been recognized from time im- 
memorial. Absent-mindedness not only makes 
its possessor a butt for ridicule and leads him 
into countless wastes of time and energy in 
the details of practical living, but may also 
result in real danger if, for instance, when 
thus immersed in his thoughts, he attempts 
to walk the streets of a large city. 

No, attention control is a skillful procedure 
and consists in a constant reposition of the 
attention when, and only when, it wanders 
from the objective chosen by our intelligence. 
Such skill, moreover, should include a satis- 

10 



factory attitude in regard to the interruption 
or reason for the wandering attention. 

Suppose, for example, one is engaged in 
the writing of an important letter when dis- 
tracted by the noise of the workmen engaged 
in erecting a building just outside one's 
window. The interruption must be looked 
over, sized up as it were, then discarded as 
irrevelant and a quiet return made to the 
subject at hand. If we try to shut out the 
noise by directing our efforts to not hearing 
it or not being conscious of it, we inevitably 
invite disaster. Our ears must receive im- 
pressions ; our intelligence operating through 
our attention can choose whether or not such 
impressions shall become the present objec- 
tive of consciousness. If by quietly turning 
back to the subject at hand, we good nat- 
uredly and tolerantly recognize the noise as 
beyond our control, as irrevelant, and none 
of our present business ; the interruption at- 
tains no hold upon us and we can quietly and 
efficiently continue our concentration on the 
chosen subject. 

If, on the other hand, we try by attentive 
effort to suppress the normal incoming mes- 
sages from our environment because of fear 
that they may confuse us or because they are 

11 



disagreeable, we develop an increasing degree 
of awareness of them together with a steadily 
growing aversion to their presence. Still 
greater efforts are made to shut them out, 
resulting in their still further accentuation 
and so a vicious cycle is formed. Inefficiency, 
often of a very marked degree, may be pro- 
duced by thus misdirecting our attention. In- 
deed all the energy of an individual thus 
affected may be expended in useless attempts 
to suppress his essentially normal physiolog- 
ical reactions, or in equally unsuccessful 
efforts to find an environment incapable of 
producing the reactions he is attempting to 
escape. When these attempts fail, as they 
invariably do, such a person is only too ready 
to decide he is constitutionally hyper-sensi- 
tive or to erroneously place the blame on his 
environmental conditions. In reality the dif- 
ficulty is, as we have seen, a self-inflicted one, 
due to unskillful direction of his attention. 
Let such an individual practice shifting his 
attack and using his attention to select or 
choose the subject matter of aware conscious- 
ness from the mass of incoming impressions 
normally present, and his success is assured. 
His output will steadily increase while there 
will be a progressive lowering in his hyper- 

12 



sensitiveness to incoming stimuli. 

The truth of the principle involved is 
readily illustrated. The riveter is blissfully 
unconscious of, and undisturbed by, the noise 
he produces, because his attention is occupied 
with actual construction; the noise involved 
is purely incidental and awakens no interest 
on his part. To the idle spectator of his work, 
the noise supersedes all other impressions. 
Many a nervous individual, abnormally hyper- 
sensitive to ordinary noise and confusion, will 
pound away on a piece of metal, oblivious of 
the noise he and his fellow shop mates are 
producing because of his interest and absorp- 
tion in the creation of some useful article. 

Satisfactory attention control, good con- 
centration, is a mechanical procedure depend- 
ent on skillful use of the mental tools with 
w T hich we are all provided. It can only be 
attained by patient practice based on a com- 
petent understanding of the process involved 
and is not even remotely connected with 
morals, determination or will power. 

Observation is another mechanical proce- 
dure apt to be neglected or narrowly used 
by us all, but capable of immense expansion 
with a consequent large repayment in the 
real joy of living. Most of us use our powers 

13 



of observation within the narrow limits of 
our professional or business training, oblivi- 
ous of the wide vistas lying beyond these 
restricted fields. It is a common and dis- 
concerting surprise to us all to realize how 
little we actually observe, how much we 
simply see. 

A walk through the streets of a city, a 
stroll in the woods may, in either case, be a 
constant never ending source of delight in 
the recognition of new colors or sounds, in 
the study of architecture, or of one's fellow- 
men, in the acquirement of knowledge and 
understanding of plants and animals, or may 
be the mere routine accomplishment of phy- 
sical exercise. Moreover, such broadening of 
the use of our powers of observation involves 
no greater expenditure of energy than does 
the carrying out of the restricted activity so 
common to us all. Such a statement may be 
questioned but the laws of physiology justify 
the conclusion. Our mental or brain activity 
is a constant procedure dating from birth, as 
is the beating of our hearts. We are con- 
stantly receiving impressions through our 
sensory receiving organs. We cannot escape, 
therefore, a constant use of our powers of 
observation to one degree or another. To 

14 



guide intelligently the use of this faculty, to 
increase the range of observation, actually 
rests rather than tires our brain, for mental 
rest and relaxation comes from the variation 
in aware consciousness produced by diversity 
of interests, the latter in its turn resulting 
from the use of our powers of observation. 
Clearly, then, the broader training we give 
ourselves in this line the greater our facilities 
for mental recuperation. 

This point is clearly demonstrated in the 
life of Roosevelt. Here was a man whose 
powers of observation were trained along 
many lines and we find him turning from 
political consultations, in the midst of the 
first Bull Moose convention days, to seek an 
hour's rest in the discussion of birds with a 
naturalist friend, returning from this talk 
with an entirely fresh viewpoint on the con- 
vention's policies. 

We should cultivate a broad and varied use 
of the faculty of observation, by so doing 
we accustom ourselves to a purposeful and 
profitable use of our attention; we broaden 
our view of life and change our daily routine 
from a more or less drab, uninteresting, pro- 
cedure to a series of delightful and interest- 
ing adventures. 

15 



Furthermore, the acquirement of such con- 
trol provides us with a splendid weapon to 
combat any severe emotional upset from 
which we may suffer. We all know that dis- 
couragement tends to temporarily surround 
us in a blue cloud, as it were, coloring our 
entire outlook for a time. If, however, we 
have well trained our power of observation, 
if a purposive use of our attention is 
habitual; with but little effort we find our 
attention drawn from contemplation of our 
difficulties to interest in the constant stream 
of new impressions we receive, even in ordi- 
nary daily living. 

Another faculty, our power of choice, may 
be markedly improved by study and prac- 
tice. Whether we actually create our oppor- 
tunities or not, we are certainly responsible 
for a selection between possible courses of 
action and here the technique of decision 
making is of prime importance. 

The human machine is a unified business 
organization and the same rules are applica- 
ble to its business procedure as to that of 
any business organization. Let us consider 
for descriptive purposes that our intelligence 
is the executive head presiding over a com- 
mittee meeting called to determine questions 

16 



of policy. Certain rules are essential if such 
a meeting is to accomplish anything. All 
business is systematically taken up in its 
proper time and place whether it be reading 
the minutes of a previous meeting or new 
business; an efficient method we are only too 
apt to neglect in the handling of our own per- 
sonal business organization. 

In our comparison let us turn to new 
business, for decision making in our own 
business organization falls in this class. 
Obviously, the executive first concerns him- 
self with ascertaining if the business is 
relevant, if it really is a question to be de- 
cided. Determination of this point leads 
definitely to the next; are all the necessary 
facts present on which to decide the ques- 
tion? Lastly, having determined on the 
policy, decide whether it is now time to act 
or is action wisely postponed until some 
future time. In other words, the business- 
like procedure is to decide the matter if all 
the facts are in; to table it if they are not, 
and take it up at a later day. To act or not, 
depending whether the time is propitious, 
and finally having in one of these ways ade- 
quately handled the matter before the meet- 
ing, turn to the remaining unfinished busi- 
ness. 

17 



Such a procedure may with profit be ap- 
plied to our own business organization. Our 
power of choice must be used in a similar 
way if we are to be successful in making a 
decision. We must first determine the rel- 
evancy or irrelevancy of the question. Have 
we any real influence on the problem? One 
is astonished how many difficulties over 
which we waste time and energy may be en- 
tirely beyond our control and thus rapidly 
and legitimately settled by turning to the 
next question at hand. 

If our question is relevant, If the problem 
is our business, then we must marshal our 
facts clearly, with as little feeling or emotion 
as possible. Here again a certain proportion 
of our decisions is automatically removed for 
all our facts may not be in. If we have all 
our material, then we must make a clean cut 
decision on the basis of the unemotional evi- 
dence before us. Such a procedure is a mere 
mechanical action and will be efficient or in- 
efficient, skillful or unskillful, simply in pro- 
portion to our mechanical technique. 

The decision made, turn to the next point 
to be decided, is it time to act or not? If it 
is, act ; if not, turn to the next business, do 
not dwell longer on a decision already com- 

18 



petently handled. On the other hand do not 
feel that such a decision must be irrevocable. 
New facts may come to hand later. If this 
happens, re-open the question and decide on 
the basis of the new facts as well as of the 
old. This in no way interferes with the value 
of the previous clean cut decision and surely 
results in more satisfactory final accomplish- 
ment. 

Thus I may decide to cross the street be- 
cause at a given moment the coast is clear. 
It is a good decision and I immediately put 
it into action. If, however, a motor suddenly 
appears from around the corner representing 
a new fact of prime importance, to revise my 
decision, to halt my steps, is surely the wise 
and efficient procedure. The making of this 
new decision on the basis of new facts inter- 
feres not at all with the value of the previous 
decision, while to hold obstinately to the 
course first decided upon would, in the case 
suggested, actually endanger my life. 

Roughly, this is the technique for which 
we must strive in the use of our powers of 
choice. Practice the making of clean cut, un- 
emotional decisions, and be on the outlook for 
such opportunities. Do not expect that stu- 
pendous questions will be daily supplied to 

19 



you, but recognize that opportunities for 
practice on little things in the details of daily 
living are practically always present. To de- 
cide what clothes we shall put on, for 
example, gives us as satisfactory a chance to 
practice making an efficient decision as would 
any much more important or far reaching 
problem. 

Avoid the pernicious habit of "making up 
one's mind/' Such an elaborate ritual is un- 
necessary and inefficient. Marshal your facts, 
decide, act, it is better to make an error 
occasionally than to be constantly lost in a 
maze of profitless preparation. 

There is one common error in the technique 
of decision making against which we must 
guard. It is a quite popular idea that the 
making of a decision should so settle the mat- 
ter in our minds that no questions in regard 
to it should arise later. Nothing is farther 
from the truth even in the case of a com- 
petently made decision. It is as usual and 
normal for doubts or queries to arise in our 
minds after we have made a decision as it is 
for the attention to wander from any subject. 
If, as in attention control, we concentrate on 
the difficulty, in this case the doubts, we 
simply serve to accentuate them. The ap- 

20 



pearance of doubts in regard to the wisdom 
of our previously made decision should be 
accepted as normal, but we must refuse to 
re-open the matter unless the doubts are 
founded on new facts, which, as we have 
previously discussed, calls for a re-opening 
and review of the whole matter. Accept the 
appearance of such doubts as customary, not 
as a sign of failing power of choice, then 
tolerantly turn back to present business. 
Again as in the control of the attention the 
practice of the technique I have described 
leads to greater and greater efficiency and the 
process of shifting back to present business 
becomes more and more automatic. 

No one will deny the value of good habits, 
nor the detrimental influence of bad, yet the 
practical application of this principle to every 
day living is almost universally neglected. 
This principle is well recognized and broadly 
applied by the executive of any manufactur- 
ing plant, only to be forgotten entirely or at 
least only partially applied to the manage- 
ment of his own machinery. This is some- 
what due to the entirely erroneous idea that 
the human machine instinctively or naturaTly 
falls into good habits. Of course, many of the 
bodily functions, such as digestion, for ex- 

21 



ample, are largely automatic and we cannot 
directly improve their efficiency. Concentra- 
tion on the actual process of digestion; any 
attempts to guide it voluntarily, produces in- 
efficient digestion rather than increased effi- 
ciency in the handling of food. Nevertheless, 
if we do not voluntarily and intelligently form 
good habits in regard to the quality and quan- 
tity of our food, as well as in the taking of 
this nourishment at regular, wisely deter- 
mined hours, we are definitely handicapping 
ourselves. Broadly, an intelligent study of 
our bodily requirements as to work, rest, 
play, and nourishment, added to the volun- 
tary formation of good habits in these lines 
spells satisfactory accomplishment, while its 
neglect means increasing wear and tear and 
a falling output. 

It is not sufficient, however, to supervise 
intelligently the formation of good habits and 
the eradication of bad in this broad manner : 
the ideal of efficiency must be carried out in 
the smaller details of the use of our mental 
and physical tools. For instance, our dietary 
may be excellent and our meal hour well 
chosen, yet if we swallow our food without 
proper mastication, washing it down with 
several glasses of water, we are obviously 

22 



inefficient in our eating habits and will reap 
our reward in failing digestive powers. 

We cannot spare the time and space neces- 
sary in this little pamphlet to go into many 
detailed examples but must be satisfied with 
the demonstration of the principle. Indeed, 
individual habit idiosyncrasies differ so much 
that an attempt to discuss them all would 
require volumes. We must bear in mind that 
our daily habits, our form in living, were 
originally the result of voluntary effort. If 
we allow ourselves to follow the line of least 
resistance, to form such habits in an unin- 
telligent way, our personal efficiency will suf- 
fer markedly with a consequent decrease in 
output and an increasing sense of inade- 
quacy and unsatisfactory accomplishment. 
Furthermore, trained intelligence must be 
brought to bear on the matter if the habits 
formed are to be good ones. Native intelli- 
gence is not endowed with understanding of 
the details of mechanical technique. Our en- 
dowment of intelligence simply allows us to 
study and work out the mental and physical 
mechanism which most efficiently brings the 
result desired. 

The executive policy of a certain large 
manufacturing plant illustrates the principle 

23 



we are discussing perfectly. Employing an 
immense number of men, the personal effi- 
ciency of that labor is essential to the success 
of the business. In this plant the machines 
in the process of construction are placed on 
carriers or moving platforms which stop be- 
fore each special workman in order that his 
particular job on that machine may be done. 
The time allowed to do his work is carefully 
figured out and in order to finish that work 
he must allow no intervals of delay or idle- 
ness, no wasteful inefficient movements or the 
machine is removed with his part unfinished. 
Intelligent planning, such really intimate 
executive control of each man and his par- 
ticular work, leads to an immense output with 
the least possible individual friction and loss 
on labor or material. 

This principle applied to the guidance of 
our own manufacturing plants, such intimate 
intelligent study and direction of our habitual 
use of our own mental and physical tools, is 
equally valuable. The formation of efficient 
mental and physical habits, together with the 
elimination of inefficient ones, will inevitably 
lead to a surprising increase in attainment 
plus a steadily growing repayment in satis- 
faction. 

24 



Automatic habits, because they do not re- 
quire intelligent guidance, result in the con- 
servation of energy. The percentage of 
energy conserved depends, however, on the 
character of the habit. All habits are formed 
originally by voluntary effort. Their efficiency 
must be judged from the standpoint of the 
ratio between energy expended and results 
obtained. In industry the man who persists 
in clumsy inefficient work, intellectual or 
manual, is soon relegated to the scrap heap. 
In the human machine similar inefficiency 
spells, sooner or later, the same result. No 
one of us can attain perfection, but certainly 
effort expended along the line of good habit 
formation, avoiding the worship of form for 
form's sake alone, by keeping our purpose 
clearly before us, leads to an abundant, never 
ceasing, harvest of satisfaction, as well as of 
actual attainment. 

In the use of any or all of the faculties we 
have been describing, periods of clean cut 
activity, alternating with periods of rest and 
relaxation, should be the ideal for which we 
strive. Much more work, much better work, 
results from short periods of high class, clean 
cut effort, than from long drawn out strug- 
gles carried on beyond the stage of ease in 
doing. Moreover, such methods diminish to a 

25 



marked degree the fatigue left behind. When 
one is working hard on a problem and has 
carried on to the point where fatigue is ex- 
cessive and actual concentration and accom- 
plishment practically nil, it is much wiser to 
stop and turn one's attention elsewhere than 
to endeavor to force ahead without a break. 
Let up in concentration on that particular 
subject; turn the attention elsewhere if only 
to stroll across the room, to observe what is 
happening outside one's window. Even such 
a minute break will serve to send one back 
to one's job with a freshened viewpoint. 

The course just suggested is certainly 
much more efficient and productive of results, 
than is either doggedly laboring on with ex- 
cessive fatigue and vanishing accomplish- 
ment, or attempting to counteract the fatigue 
present by flying from the chosen subject to 
seek intensely exciting diversion elsewhere. 

During the early years of the world war, 
before our country was drawn into the con- 
flict, a certain manufacturing plant was mak- 
ing war supplies. The demand was tremend- 
ous and the executive offices asked the work- 
ers from president down to work seven days 
a week and to give up their summer vaca- 
tions. What was the result ? Increasing in- 

26 



efficiency in that plant going on to definite 
progressive lowering of the output. The les- 
son to be learned is, I think, clear. Our ma- 
chines are not meant for long continued 
periods of one kind of activity; alternating 
periods of work, rest and play, give us greater 
results than attempts at continuous en- 
deavor. This, moreover, is not a question of 
theory, but of facts founded on sound physio- 
logical laws and is incorrectly criticised as a 
new fangled fad by members of the older 
generation. Whether we are dealing with 
inanimate machinery or the living human 
machine, a satisfactory record of accomplish- 
ment can only result from carefully planned, 
clean cut periods of work, alternating with 
periods of rest and repair. 

There are several types of inefficiency 
which are so common in the neurasthenic as 
to justify mention. The most prevalent of 
these is that form of inefficiency produced by 
using emotions or feelings as guides for 
action. No more successful method of court- 
ing disturbances or disaster was ever in- 
vented. Facts must guide us, not fiction. 
Surely no satisfactory ground work for daily 
living can be based on such a variable factor 
as our emotional outlook at a given moment. 

27 



Our enthusiasm of the night before is soon 
superseded by the remorse and depression of 
the morning after. Action becomes spas- 
modic and unprofitable; decision making a 
mere conflict of desires, while attention es- 
capes intelligent control and flits like a will o' 
the wisp from one emotionally diverting sub- 
ject to another. True efficient accomplish- 
ment becomes nil. 

The error is an obvious one as, indeed, is 
the remedy. Feelings and emotions are not 
facts therefore, they cannot be used with 
profit as conduct determinents. Man is en- 
dowed with intelligent power of choice to al- 
low him to act irrespective of his emotional 
desires or feelings. We must think, act, and 
then incidentally feel, if we wish to avoid 
this common and distressing form of ineffi- 
ciency. A life so conducted is not a colorless, 
unfeeling, machine-like existence; indeed, we 
can no more take emotions entirely from our 
lives than we can remove over-tones from 
music, but they must not be made the foun- 
dation on which daily living is built. They 
provide warmth and tone to the picture, but 
cannot take the place of drawing and per- 
spective. 

Plan wisely, act skillfully, and the conse- 

28 



quent emotional reactions will inevitably be 
satisfactory and enjoyable. Reverse the pro- 
cedure, feel first, then act, and sooner or later 
you will have to think yourself out of the 
mix-up into which your feelings have ted you. 
Feeling is, and should be, an effect, not a 
cause, and it is an effect and nothing more in 
the efficiently run machine. In the nervous 
individual's inefficiently run machine, the 
feeling reactions produced by this inefficiency 
become so exaggerated from hyper-sensitive- 
ness that such an individual is drawn more 
and more to use feelings as a determinent of 
action. The result is as surely destructive to 
success in the business activity of the human 
machine as it would be in the credit depart- 
ment of a bank, were the color of a client's 
hair or his type of dress, the sole facts on 
which the amount of his loan was determined. 
Think, act, and incidentally feel, is a true gos- 
pel of human efficiency. 

There is another type of inefficiency which 
is also exceedingly prevalent. It is due to the 
development of self consciousness to an ab- 
normal degree, such self consciousness ex- 
pressing itself in making a moral question of 
every act, decision or, indeed, of every 
thought. Such an individual is not content to 

29 



select from the constant stream of conscious 
activity those thoughts or ideals which are 
worth while and meet with his ethical ap- 
proval, but holds himself responsible for the 
mere presence in consciousness of any disap- 
proved thought, usually expressing this su- 
per-responsibility by violently attempting to 
remove or suppress the obnoxious intruder, 
Over moral responsibility of this character is 
founded on the erroneous idea that to think 
a wrong thought is tantamount to doing that 
wrong, or at least of intending to do that 
wrong. This soon leads to a greater and 
greater degree of moral hyper-sensitiveness 
until all such an individual's time and energy 
is expended in a profitless attempt to censor 
and destroy a steadily increasing number of 
their mental films, rather than in the use of 
their normal power of selection to build up 
new worth while reels made up of mental sets 
meeting their approval. We are not responsi- 
ble for the incidence of thoughts. Our incom- 
ing channels for the reception of what ever 
comes in contact with them are never closed. 
All our senses are constantly awake even 
when we are sleeping, and, therefore, they 
are registering impressions in the brain con- 
stantly. Surely there is no moral question 

30 



involved should this mechanical registration, 
as it often does, result in one or many im- 
pressions ethically criticisable being added to 
our mental store house. No, such an attitude 
in regard to possible immoral thoughts is un- 
justifiable and leads to a woeful misuse of our 
mental tools. The question is actually a me- 
chanical one and easily handled. Our sole re- 
sponsibility is to exercise proper selection of 
our thoughts, to concentrate on and use as 
a basis for action, those which appeal to our 
reason as well as our moral sense. Practice 
in this will give us an ever increasing skill in 
living, for by so doing we apply intelligence 
and effort where it will do the most good in 
real constructive work, and so do not expend 
it extravagantly and uselessly in emphasiz- 
ing, even with the purpose of exclusion, the 
mere presence of worthless thoughts and de- 
sires. 

In other words, we are responsible, and 
solely responsible, for a proper choice of 
aware consciousness, for a careful selection of 
the thoughts on which we put our attention. 
Such selection actually results in constantly 
discarding worthless thoughts or impressions 
simply because they are not those selected. 
To go further and make ourselves responsible 

31 



for the mere presence of such worthless 
thoughts ends in the production of a profit- 
less hyper-critical, self-conscious, egotism 
often dignified by the name of "New England 
Conscience." 

Whatever the particular variety of ineffi- 
ciency from which we suffer, it can satisfac- 
torily and permanently be eradicated if 
treated as a mechanical disturbance. Pick 
your objective intelligently, plan for its effi- 
cient accomplishment, carry out such a plan 
skillfully, and the reward in work produced, 
as well as satisfactory feeling reactions, is 
certain. 

Last but not least accept things as they 
are. Play the game cheerfully and with 
"pep," making the most of the opportunities 
presented. Do not kick against the pricks. 
Live and act in the present, for the past is 
gone, and on the present depends the future. 
In the words of Epictetus : 

"Remember that thou art an actor in a 
play, of such a part as it may please the di- 
rector to assign thee; of a short part if he 
choose a short part; of a long one if he 
choose a long. And if he will have thee take 
the part of a poor man or a cripple, or a gov- 
ernor or a private person, mayest thou act 

32 



that part with grace. For thine is to act well 
the allotted part, but to choose it is another's. 
Seek not to have things happen as you choose 
them, but rather choose them to happen as 
they do, and so shall you live prosperously/' 



33 



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